Shafiq Hirani CCIMReal Estate Advisor, REMAX Distinctive · Real Estate Advisor at RE/MAX Distinctive Commercial | Washington, DC | Your Guide To Profitable Real Estate Ventures

Housing Crash? Single-Family Prices Plummet, Apartments SURGE! #shorts

28 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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1:19

In this concise market commentary, the speaker outlines a sharp downturn in the U.S. single‑family housing sector and a concurrent surge in multifamily construction. The median price of a new single‑family home fell to $398,300, the lowest since last July and down from $412,000 in May. Builders are responding by cutting prices, offering incentives (63% of them), and constructing smaller homes, while builder confidence dropped to 34 in July. Single‑family starts are down 5% year‑to‑date, with the NAHB forecasting a 3% annual decline. In contrast, multifamily starts rose 17.2% year‑over‑year, indicating a shift of demand toward rentals. The speaker attributes this shift to a deepening affordability crisis, underscored by weak consumer sentiment—44.8 in May (a multi‑year low) improving only modestly to 54.4. The overall message is that as buying becomes less affordable, renters and apartment developers gain a stronger demand floor.

Chapters

The single-family housing market is struggling, and that struggle is your demand story. The median new home price fell to $398,300, the lowest level since last July. That is down from $412,000 in May. Builders are cutting prices, building smaller homes, and 63% are offering incentives just to move inventory. Builder confidence fell to 34 in July. Single-family construction starts are down 5% year-to-date, and the National Association of Home Builders is forecasting a 3% decline for the full year. Meanwhile, multifamily starts jumped 17.2% year over year. That tells you exactly where the demand is flowing. When people cannot afford to buy, they rent. When builders cannot sell homes, they build apartments. The affordability crisis is not easing, it is deepening. And every month it continues, the demand floor under your apartment building gets stronger. One number I want you to remember: consumer sentiment hit 44.8 in May, one of the lowest readings in years. It has recovered slightly to 54.4, but that is still fragile. People are not confident about the economy right now, and that uncertainty keeps them renting instead of buying.